Within the framework of the present invention, the following meanings are implied:                rolling on the ground implies any type of possible rolling of an aircraft, such as rolling on a landing runway in the course of the landing and takeoff phases, or rolling on trafficways or on maneuvering areas, in particular;        automation implies the action of a system capable of ensuring, partially or totally, that is to say without aid or with the partial aid of a human, the driving of an aircraft on the ground; and        driving implies the action of directing the progress, or movements, of the aircraft on the ground.        
Currently, the pilot controls the aircraft's ground movements, by virtue of manual piloting facilities (for example a steering wheel allowing orientation of the wheel of the front landing gear, a lever for controlling the thrust of the engines, brake pedals, a directional rudder bar), along a ground trajectory. These facilities make it possible to control actuators of the aircraft capable of influencing the movements of the aircraft, in particular by way of the engines, the brakes, the orientation of the wheel of the front landing gear (and optionally the orientation of the rear gear), as well as the rudder of the fin.
The term ground trajectory designates the pathway followed by the aircraft on an airport domain such as an aerodrome or an airport, including in particular the takeoff and landing runways, the trafficways or taxiways, the turn-around areas, the waiting zones, the stop bars, the stopping positions (stand), the maneuvering areas, and the parking areas.
The ground trajectory is generally provided to the pilot, in particular by way of radiocommunication means or another standard means such as a digital data transmission link, by an air traffic controller or by a ground controller, but it can also, in certain cases, be chosen freely by the pilot.
The trajectory is defined in the form of a succession of elements of the airport domain, and it indicates a pathway making it possible to reach, from one point or region of the airport domain, another point or region of this domain.
Any portion of the domain, whether or not designated by a name, and identified as a distinct and delimited part of the domain, is called an element of the airport domain. An element may optionally overlap one or more others. The takeoff and landing runways, the trafficways or taxiways, the turn-around areas, the waiting zones, the stop bars, the stopping positions (stand), the maneuvering areas and the parking areas are in particular designated as elements.
Knowing the ground trajectory to be followed, the pilot acts on the aforesaid piloting facilities, so as to control the movements of the aircraft on the ground (the longitudinal speed and the lateral displacements of the aircraft). He does so also in order to follow the trajectory in such a way that all the parts of the aircraft in contact with the ground (the wheels of the front and rear gear) remain permanently on the pavement designed for aircraft rolling. For most airports accommodating civil or military transport airplanes, the term “ground” implies the parts covered with tarmac and designed for this purpose. The pilot's objective is therefore to manage a trajectory so that none of the parts of the aircraft in contact with the ground lies at a given moment on a portion of the airport domain that is not designed for the rolling of the aircraft, in particular portions covered with grass, earth or sand, or portions designed solely for the rolling of lighter vehicles (cars, trucks).
The manual piloting of an aircraft on the ground constitutes a significant workload for the pilot. The latter must in fact follow the envisaged trajectory by controlling at one and the same time the speed of the aircraft (with the aid of the engine thrust levers and brake pedals), and the rotation about the yaw axis (with the aid of the steering wheel and rudder bar), while taking care not to depart from the pavement designed for the rolling of the aircraft, and while simultaneously monitoring the exterior environment, and in particular:                the movements of the other vehicles traveling around the airport domain, in particular aircraft currently rolling on the ground, taking off or landing, cars, trucks, etc.; and        the obstacles present around the aircraft and liable to cause a collision with the latter, in particular buildings, gangways, antennas, indication and signaling panels, and other vehicles on the ground, stationary or otherwise (aircraft, cars, trucks, mobile gangways).        
This significant workload may, consequently, influence the pilot's vigilance, and lead, in particular, to the following of an unplanned trajectory, departures from the pavement designed for the rolling of the aircraft, and collisions with other vehicles or obstacles that may lead to significant damage to equipment and humans.
When conditions exist that are detrimental to the visibility (for the pilot) of the exterior environment, in particular at night or during unfavorable meteorological conditions (fog, snow, rain, storms, etc.), the pilot may be dependent on exterior aid for piloting the aircraft, for example the aid of a vehicle to be followed which makes it possible to guide the aircraft visually along the trajectory by traveling ahead of it at low speed. Dependence on exterior aid such as this is often penalizing for airlines, since the low-speed movement of the aircraft may induce delays in the envisaged timetables. In certain cases, in particular in the event of extreme meteorological conditions, the airport traffic may even remain totally paralyzed if the exterior aid turns out to be ineffective, thus leading to delays and significant costs for the airlines. The efficiency of the traffic flow over the airport domain is greatly affected with major financial impacts for all payees (airport, control, airlines).
Additionally, the driving of aircraft of significant length can be difficult to achieve, in particular during turns, because of the significant wheelbase between the front and rear gear. Under these conditions, it is, in fact, more difficult to drive the aircraft so that all the parts in contact with the ground remain on the pavement designed for the rolling of the aircraft, thereby requiring the use of additional pilot aids, for example the employing of exterior cameras allowing the pilot to verify that the wheels of the front gear do not depart from the pavement (the case of the AIRBUS transport airplanes of the A 380 and A340-600 types).
Furthermore, the manual piloting of an aircraft on the ground is not optimal in terms of time spent while rolling along the trajectory, or in terms of use and wear of the actuators. Neither can the pilot accurately predict the arrival time at the end of the trajectory. These limitations impinge in particular on the maintenance costs and availability of aircraft for airlines, as well as on the congestion of large national and international airports and on the delays penalizing both the airlines and passengers. Finally, this absence of optimization of airport operations has a strong and negative impact on the environment (noise, pollution, etc.).